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Group sues Texas county for not providing early voting location at historically black college

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has filed a lawsuit against election officials in Waller County, Texas, accusing them of suppressing black voters.

The advocacy group said in a statement Tuesday that the county violated the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution by not providing an early voting location at Prairie View A&M University, a historically black university. The group brought the lawsuit on behalf of five students.

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Leah Aden, deputy director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said in the statement that Waller County has shown a "troubling pattern" of limiting the rights of black voters.

“Since at least the early 1970s, Waller County has consistently tried to limit the political power of Black voters in the City of Prairie View and at Prairie View A&M specifically by undermining their right to vote," Aden said.

"In keeping with this troubling pattern, Waller County officials have refused to come close to providing the same number of early-voting opportunities as they have to non-Black and non-student voters before next month’s election. LDF is hopeful that the court will order Waller County to fulfill its obligation to protect every voter’s rights under the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution," Aden added.

Waller County election officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

Voters in the majority-white city of Waller have two locations to vote during the first week of early voting, according to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.